Regardless of the small moves UCD makes up and down the world university rankings from year to year, in recent times it has consistently found itself polling relatively high. Such rankings are compiled based not only on academic reputation, graduate prospects or the strength or impact of research conducted at any institution, but also on the quality of the university’s facilities, and the level of expenditure per student that is spent on facilities for both students and staff of the institution.

At a time when most Irish universities have unprecedented levels of debt against the backdrop of a seemingly merciless economic crisis, many severe and often unforgiving cuts have become necessary. As is frequently the case in such drastic situations, facilities and services perceived to be the least essential are targeted, something which can often lead to the importance of services essential only to a minority becoming lost amid frantic bids to set everything back on track.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Equality Officer, Gerard Gallagher, who focuses largely on equality for students with disabilities, is a former UCD student who suffers from cerebral palsy and dyslexia and is all too aware of the reality of the impact our current financial situation has on those students with disabilities. “With the recession there is a tendency for an awful lot of organisations to turn around and say there’s no money. There’s a need, first and foremost, for students’ needs to be met under reasonable accommodations regardless of cost, and there’s probably a need for everybody to work together to come up with cost-effective solutions. There can be a cop-out where there’s no money available rather than trying to look for a solution.”

Fiona Sweeney, manager of the Access Centre, which provides pre- and post-entry supports for students with disabilities, broaches the topic with a more resigned tone. “There was a cut in the fund for students with a disability, but everything’s been cut I suppose. It’s a tightening of resources, and certainly things like technology to help students be more independent themselves and also to not have to rely on having a person [disability support assistant]; they’re much more expensive.”

The Access Centre, formerly the Disability Support Service (DSS), has undergone restructuring over the last number of years in order to cater for a more diverse range of people and problems. It now includes outreach programmes such as the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) and the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) schemes, which both aim to offer a wider scope of access to university for students with disabilities and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Additionally, the centre offers academic assistance such as exam supports within the alternative exam centre, classroom supports involving informing lecturers of students’ specific needs, providing equipment, personal assistants and personal supports, in so far as is possible, to any students who register with the Centre.

Brian O’Brien, Auditor of the Inclusion Participation Awareness Society (IPA), a society established mainly to lobby for disability rights within UCD and to encourage the participation of students with a disability in UCD, believes that while the supports provided are “adequate”, they are still not the best they could be. “Sometimes they don’t get where students with disabilities are coming from. Sometimes assignments can be challenging and you’ve got to negotiate with the staff, and lecture slides can be a bit of a challenge. There are some things that just aren’t right and they just haven’t gotten their finger on the button yet.”

One of O’Brien’s main difficulties with the supports provided to him by the Access Centre lies in the alternative exam centre. Though many students with disabilities require different facilities during exam periods, which would not be catered for in the RDS, he feels the segregation is thoroughly off-putting. “The one thing I really, really do not like is the Newman Exam Centre because when I was in school, I was in a different exam centre but I was close. I was in a different wing in the school so I’d have the exam craic, the fun, you see the friends, you’re talking about the exam in a very lighthearted manner, whereas in the alternative exam centre, you’re on your own and you’re isolated. I have contemplated going into the RDS because of that but I need the supports in Newman, but it’s a horrible experience in my eyes.”

Gallagher too, had some difficulties even with gaining access to the supports he needed before he graduated last year. “Certainly when I was there it was a challenge to get the appropriate supports, but the person who shouts the loudest gets their voice heard and that’s what I did. That’s how I managed to get my degree but I’d say there are a number of students that have suffered dramatically as a result of their disability and as a result of not having the appropriate supports.”

Even despite this, he shared O’Brien’s experiences of isolation, not only at exam time, but also day-to-day, as he attended lectures. “If you look at lecture theatres; if you’re a student with a disability studying, for example, history, you’d be in Theatre L and you have to go into the back of the lecture theatre, to the little boxes. That was probably one of the things that I found most difficult when I was in UCD because you’re automatically segregated from the rest of your class and it was something that I tried to fight for, to ensure something would be done, but unfortunately it’s just to do with the design of the building and fire regulations that these things often take time to come to fruition. Certainly the likes of UCD probably has a fair way to go in that regard.”

These feelings of seclusion extended even further, as far as campus living, for Gallagher. “When I [lived] in Glenomena, there were four accessible studios which are independent apartments. Unfortunately, during my time in UCD they closed off my parking space when they brought in the Residences gates. They used to close the gates at eleven at night and for me that was really the straw that broke the camel’s back, in that I actually moved off campus. When I was coming in from the Student Bar if there was a late bar, I had to phone security and get them to open the gates. I was automatically treated differently by UCD Residences and subsequently by the security who were on duty.”

He continued, “There was no communal area, so that was another issue, in that it was quite segregated. I didn’t get to [go to] campus parties or the general stuff that goes on in campus accommodation. In many ways I missed out on the campus living, while I was living on campus.”

These difficulties with the accessibility of student life, or these social obstacles, are a large part of what the IPA was set up to combat, but O’Brien feels they are very much still a problem today. “I firmly believe they do [exist]. If you add on the stigma as well, if they found it hard in secondary school and they’re coming into college off the back of that, it can be hard. They’re more reluctant to get involved.”

In contrast, Julie Tonge, the Disability Support Student Advisor who works alongside Sweeney in the Access Centre, doesn’t feel that these issues are as prominent now as they have been in years gone by. “Certainly we feel that they face the same obstacles as all students, particularly around transition, and coming from school to somewhere like UCD … Mostly it’s the same kind of social difficulties that any student would be having, maybe they just haven’t met too many people yet or their friends have all gone to Trinity.”

Tonge also downplays the perceived stigma surrounding disabilities in general. “I think there’s not as much stigma. I think there might still be some, I mean students who have a mental health difficulty would be much more conscious of who will know and will their lecturers know and what will they know and that kind of thing, so certainly there would still be a bit.”

O’Brien however, has a different prospective. “There is a stigma attached to it. Students are afraid to hand up their DSS letters to lecturers, I find. I’ve been asked by other students “Oh, can you go up and get the notes for me?” It depends on the subject. When I was in Sociology last year, in Theatre L, there were notes handed out at the end of the class and I remember I used to go up all the time for it, I didn’t mind. If people had an issue with my disability, I didn’t really care, but I definitely noticed other people were more hesitant to go up, there was definitely some stigma there.”

Gallagher shared similar sentiments, but admitted that it is difficult to find a way for everyone to engage with disability without further increasing stigma, although he has found wheelchair basketball to often be a success at UCD. “It’s a fun outlet for people … to get involved in and it’s addressing the issue of disability in a fun manner. People are afraid to address disability and [don’t know] how to talk about it, but when they’re in a chair themselves you naturally become more comfortable.”

Not everything can be solved with a simple game of wheelchair basketball however, as he continued; “Basically as a result of the economic recession, people aren’t as open to disability as they once would have been, which is very worrying and even anecdotally I would see that on nights out where taxi drivers would refuse to take me on more than one occasion because I’ve got the mobility scooter. I suppose that’s a major issue there, and what you’re really looking for is a major societal change and that is not something that’s achieved overnight. The only real way to overcome the challenge of a disability is to continue talking about it.”

By the Access Centre’s own admission, the situation in UCD is far from perfect, although it is improving. Tailored orientation schemes for students with disabilities have led to increased registration with the Access Centre, as there is now a full-time Disability Access Officer who works to ensure that the University is compliant with the Disability Act 2005. This demands that by 2015, UCD must be completely accessible to the point where a mobility-impaired person has the same access to all buildings on campus as any able-bodied person. Along with the vast array of supports provided on campus, it is extremely difficult to say that students with disabilities are under-represented, or treated as an afterthought in UCD. However, it still cannot be denied that there is quite a long way to go before true equality is even within remote reach.

Forty years ago women couldn’t sit on a jury, collect children’s allowance, buy contraceptives, or drink a pint in a pub. Now discrimination on the grounds of sex is illegal, and feminism is almost a dirty word. But does this mean that equality has been achieved?

In Ireland women are paid on average seventeen per cent less than men. This isn’t just a national phenomenon. On a European level they represent only eleven per cent of the governing bodies of listed companies. Globally, women only constitute 2.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs, earn ten per cent of the world’s incomes, and own only one per cent of the means of production.

The elusive ‘glass ceiling’ is usually acknowledged but not discussed. Mary Kershaw, national president at Network Ireland, states that its existence cannot be doubted. Her organisation was set up thirty years ago specifically to provide opportunities for businesswomen that didn’t exist elsewhere. “They couldn’t go to golf clubs or anything so a few women from Enterprise Ireland set it up so they could meet and discuss things. At that time they found that there were younger men joining the organizations, far behind them and they were helping them get on and then all of a sudden they were above them … so that was a very big issue then.”

According to their members, such discrimination still remains today, albeit to a lesser extent. “I think one of the factors is that they feel that girls in their thirties are going to be taking time out to have families, and that’s probably part of the problem, apart from that and the old boys; men feel more comfortable in their own company.”

One of the figures put forward by those who doubt the existence of discrimination is the impressive percentage of women now attending and excelling at higher education. Leadership, Learning and Organisational Development Coach Mary Holland provides an interesting theory as to why this trend doesn’t continue into the workplace. She points out how the introduction of student numbers have played an unsung but influential part in improving the treatment of women, stating that it was proven in previous research that women were systematically downgraded by about ten per cent when their name appeared on a submitted paper. “So in terms of the anonymity factor, that greatly helped women in education.” She continues by saying that unfortunately, it is far more difficult to be gender anonymous in the workplace.

It is impossible to ignore the role children play in changing both women’s priorities and opportunities. In the US sixty-two per cent of women recognised having children as a barrier to promotion, while a shocking ninety-six per cent of graduates from France’s elite grandes écoles would agree with them. But with increased equality, why do women continue to shoulder the majority of the responsibility when it comes to kids?

Kershaw says that the sacrifice of career development for a family is a choice, but one that women shoulder a lot more than men. “I think that having kids, probably… emotionally it’s more the mother isn’t it? The mother always seems to be the one that will run the home, the work and everything.” Holland also suggests that a feeling of real or socially-induced guilt regarding time not spent with children can be more endemic in mothers than fathers. 
Achieving business success often comes at a price. A report by McKinsey & Company found that forty-nine per cent of the best paid women were childless, compared to nineteen per cent of men, while a Harvard Business Review Survey concurs that the further women climb up the corporate ladder, the fewer children they have.

Solutions to the status quo are not immediately apparent. Holland suggests that mentoring and the introduction of flexible working hours can benefit both sexes whilst simultaneously decreasing the income gap, while Kershaw proposes that gender quotas may be necessary because of the breadth of the disparity.

Achieving that elusive concept of equality is a complicated process, involving more than just matching statistics. Freedom of expression, and being allowed to play by women’s, as well as men’s rules are significant factors. Holland states that a cultural expectation of men can lead to an assumption that they’re better leaders and therefore more worthy of promotion. They are seen as “striving; they are encouraged to be competitive, authoritative, to take no prisoners, whereas the role perception for women is that they should be much more accommodating, understanding”, a form of leadership that is perceived as weaker and is therefore less valued.

As sexual discrimination in the workplace is rarely discussed by those who are discriminated against, the lack of awareness that there is a problem itself impedes development. Kershaw described once hearing a man speak about his ignorance of the ‘glass ceiling’; “he said that he never thought there was any discrimination against women in the workplace, and it was only later on that he realised why he thought that, because the women that got into those positions changed their personality and changed themselves to fit in with the male ethos.”

The return to Verona after Christmas was depressing. Leaving your bed to catch a cold early morning flight only makes it worse. My mind’s focus remained on the previous three weeks and not the infinite lures of returning to central Europe. The impending exams had been ignored all Christmas and the immediate return to Italy would be focused on their passing. After this, Central Europe was once again mine to explore.

Unlike UCD, the examination system in the University of Verona is frustratingly disorganised. My first exam was at nine o’clock on a Tuesday morning, a fortnight after arriving back. All examinations are oral. Also, these examinations are worth one hundred per cent of the grade, meaning technically you can pass the year without lifting a pen. The format of the exams, however, is a nightmare. Although my literature exam was scheduled for nine, all forty or fifty of my classmates had been scheduled for the same time. It was to be taken in the front of a crowded, small lecture hall filled with bored students waiting to be examined by just two lecturers. After six hours, it was my turn. Unfortunately, I had left the lecture hall for a much needed break when I was called and I had to argue my presence to even be allowed take the exam. Although successfully argued, I then promptly failed the exam and now have the whole process to look forward to again in a few weeks’ time.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to (significantly) improve my Italian. I started learning it over the summer but, paradoxically, my standard slipped when I arrived here. The bewildered stare I encountered when I spoke made me realise that primitive gestures were much more effective at getting my point across than constant misunderstandings. I met a local guy through a friend who, as a result of his national pride, strove to improve my efforts with the language. However, like most Italians, his national pride came secondary to regional loyalty. After ten minutes of my first lesson, either my ignorance of Veronese churches or my banal use of his language drove him to bring me on a tour of Verona and its churches. The lesson ended with him promising to bring horse (a traditional and incredibly popular Verona dish) for dinner for our next lesson, much to the disgust of my vegetarian flatmate. I have been using Rosetta Stone ever since.

At the weekend, every exit of the Brenner Pass is crowded with skiers and snowboarders waiting for a coach to bring them to the mountains. Although the highway leads to Austria, most are heading to the Italian Dolomites, approximately two hours north of Verona. We drove first to a small Italian town called Cavalese in the Dolomites early Sunday morning after befriending a thirty-year-old Slovak with an Opel Corsa. The Brenner Pass is also a catwalk for Italian motors. Throughout the drive, Peter, our driver, overtook Alfa Romero after Ferrari after Lamborghini with ease. I took one glance at the speedometer and never looked again. It read 160km/h. We covered roughly 400 kilometres that day in four hours.

We didn’t snowboard in Cavalese but continued into the mountains until we reached San Pellegrino, about twenty kilometres onwards. Cavalese matched none of the beauty of our new destination. We were surrounded by the peaks of the Alps that in the morning remained unhidden by clouds and dozens of slopes, all freshly covered in last night’s snow. It was minus fourteen degrees and so far our improvised snow gear was paying off. Our instructor let us off after an an hour to explore our own course on the piste.

The frustrating part for a beginner is trying to get up on your board. Everything else is great but getting up is a nightmare. The board constantly slid forward as I attempted standing up, leaving me flat on my back again. Once I conquered this, everything became easy. When I sailed on the board through the slopes it felt more like a high-speed tour of the beautiful surroundings than a high-speed board, and when I thought this while boarding, I fell. So then I concentrated on the snow in front of me and I still fell. The improvised clothing that I was so proud of earlier had frozen and by then, so had I. I scratched the icicles on my face and we left to commence the unpredictable journey home.

To quote Shakespeare’s Romeo, “There is no world for me outside the walls of Verona.” I wish I could have introduced him to Peter.

Northern Ireland is currently experiencing a state of peace that would have been unimaginable twenty years ago. This is evidenced in the comparatively low rate of politically motivated violence and killing during 2011 and the beginning of this year. This is, perhaps, what prompted Martin McGuiness to recently bring the issue of the North’s relationship with the UK, which had been somewhat sidelined because of the current financial crisis, to the forefront of political discussion again.

In recent years, the political agenda in Northern Ireland has been dominated by the economy, as it has in the Republic and indeed most of the Western world. However, in the Irish Examiner last month, the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland suggested that a referendum to decide whether Northern Ireland would continue its union with United Kingdom “could take place any time between 2016 or 2020.”
While its relationship with the UK is clearly never far from discussion, broaching the topic in such an explicit manner could potentially destabilise the fragile state of peace Northern Ireland is currently experiencing. Andy Pollak, Director of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, believes that “any talk on a referendum would be destabilising and it’s much, much too soon.” In contrast, Dr. Michael Anderson, lecturer in the UCD School of Politics, disagrees and maintains that “the moderate way that he [McGuiness] said it … hasn’t seemed to have caused any ripples in the North.”

At a time when most average citizens are preoccupied with the economy, it begs the question whether raising the possibility of reunification isn’t just a political manoeuvre aimed at vote winning. Echoing this sentiment is Ross Hussey, Councillor for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), who sees the issue as mere political posturing in order to keep Republican constituents happy. “People may vote for Republicans and Sinn Féin, but when push comes to shove, they would quite happily remain in the Union.”

However, the possibility of a referendum also demonstrates an important step forward for Northern Ireland in proving its ability to govern itself with democracy, rather than extremism as the driving force behind politics. This sentiment is echoed by Conall McDevitt, from the Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP), who believes that such a referendum would be far from destabilising, and would in fact enhance democracy in the North. “I’ve always had the view that there’s no reason why we shouldn’t test opinions on whether the people in Northern Ireland want a united Ireland or not.”

It is equally possible that the issue of the Northern Ireland’s union with the UK has resurfaced in light of recent figures that suggest that, within a generation, the majority of its population will be from a Catholic background. Legislation states that “the British government can call a referendum on the future of Northern Ireland if it appears likely that a majority of people in the province want to break with Britain and form a united Ireland.” Although this would not necessarily bring about the criteria needed to call for a referendum, the appearance of a clear Catholic majority would traditionally be viewed as an equal growth in nationalist sentiment.

This could make the possibility of a united Ireland more of a reality than ever before, as the time-old dichotomy of Catholic-Republican and Protestant-Unionist will be tested, as will the very beliefs of the people of Northern Ireland themselves. McDevitt believes that such a majority would at least bring about a more receptive climate for a possible reunification. “I think it would make the likelihood of a positive vote for reunification greater so … there is a possibility that as the demographic shifts so will support.”

Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, on the other hand, disagrees and believes that associating religion and politics is far too restrictive. He broadens the issue out to a democratic one, arguing that a potential referendum “isn’t for me about a Protestant majority or a Catholic majority. This is about citizens making a rational and logical, informed choice in their self-interest and national interest.”

The results of the 2002 census in Northern Ireland would suggest that religion still plays a large role, but certainly less so than in the past. Fourteen per cent of people declared themselves atheist or declined to state their religion. This was the largest number in this category in all of the UK and significantly larger than the same category in the Republic in the 2006 census, where just four per cent of people claimed to be atheist or didn’t state a religion.

Yet, even if the number of ardent followers is decreasing, the vast majority of the population continue to describe their background or upbringing as religious, coming from either a Catholic (forty-four per cent) or Protestant (fifty-three per cent) background, while only two per cent claimed no religious background. The contrast between religious upbringing and actual engagement in religious practice could be put down to the increase in atheism worldwide. McDevitt credits the release of religion’s hold on people’s political motivations to an increasing open-mindedness amongst Northern Ireland’s young people, the first to have grown up in relative peace for generations. “Amongst younger generations [there is] an increasing open-mindedness … people are looking to define themselves and not be defined by others.”

For Pollak, “a Catholic majority is no guarantee of a vote for a United Ireland” but he does, however, maintain that traditional divisions still have a strong role to play in Northern Irish society. “You can always say society is peaceful… but the divisions, the sectarian divide is there, if not as deep as ever… it’s still the dominant feature of Northern Irish politics and society.”

It is also arguable that the deciding factor for many people regarding being united with the UK is no longer about political ideals, but rather a question of economics. This is certainly what Ross Hussey believes to be the case. “Clearly in the North, people are aware of the economic situation in the Republic… and people [realise they are] better off with the pound in their pocket.”

In relation to economic control in Northern Ireland, Anderson points to that fact that members of Stormont do not actually exert much control over daily issues. He views this as one reason why the average citizen is not overly concerned with what discussions go on there. “There’s a distance between the political elite and the ordinary people, and many ordinary people regard what the politicians are doing as irrelevant … Bread and butter issues are still controlled from London … I think most people in the North are fairly happy that that is the case.”

The recent discussions surrounding the possibility of a referendum on seceding from Britain also undeniably put the spotlight on the very notion of Northern Irish identity. Identification with either the Republic or Britain is certainly still important to most people in Northern Ireland. There is also, however, an emerging emphasis on simply being Northern Irish, with Pollak believing that “the Northern Protestants and the Northern Catholics are much closer to each other than they are to … Britain … or to the South. A lot of Southerners see Northerners now as kind of semi-foreigners.” This assertion of pride in a specifically Northern identity is echoed by McDevitt. “I think the vast majority of Northerners feel just that:  Northern … and an important part of that is feeling proudly Northern, as well as proudly Irish or proudly British.”

Of course, it is difficult to discuss the possibility of a referendum in Northern Ireland without discussing the similar referendum that is set to take place in Scotland in 2014, proposed by the current Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond. Politicians in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Westminster alike will surely be watching what occurs in Scotland closely. Adams believes that “the circumstances between the North and Scotland are different, but the fact that there is a debate about the value of the British union will inevitably bring a focus onto the relationship between the North and Britain.”

A vote to secede from Britain would be of huge consequence to Ulster Unionists, who identify strongly with Scotland, a relationship that dates from the period of the plantations. Andy Pollak describes a vote for Scottish independence as “a bad blow for Unionism.” This opinion is shared by Michael Anderson, who also highlights the close relationship between Northern and Scottish unionists. “[Northern Unionists are] uncomfortable with the idea that the Scots might be leaving the Union… it seems to kind of take away from the solidity of the Union.”

This is perhaps because, as McDevitt explains, it undermines the old-fashioned type of state unity, which he believes is something that must be left behind by both sides of the political divide, if Northern Ireland is to progress towards more political independence. “The situation in Scotland proves that the UK is becoming an increasingly federal state and that it is quite possible … to explore new senses of sovereignty [in federal states].”

As for the actual outcome of such a referendum, opinion is, naturally, divided. Anderson questions whether the referendum will ever even see the light of day. “[The referendum] is an important gesture, but it’s gestural, rather than real.” This view is taken further by Pollak who believes that “there’s not a chance in hell that [the referendum] would be carried.”

The very suggestion of a referendum provoked an interesting response from Hussey, who quickly shot down the idea and instead suggested that it was more likely that “the Republic will seriously consider rejoining the Commonwealth and in the future you may actually find some unification with Britain, as opposed to Northern Ireland reuniting with the Republic.”

Adams, unsurprisingly, does not think this likely and sees “no compelling arguments that would persuade Irish people living in the south to contemplate either of these two options.” Regardless of the chances of a referendum passing, Adams also makes the point that, as a democratic state, the people in Northern Ireland have the right to decide whether they wish to remain a part of the United Kingdom or not. “Sinn Féin will fight a referendum to win … And while Unionists may feel they have many reasons not to engage with Republicans and Nationalists, the reality is that we are all living in a society which is in transition,” he says.

Arguably, the very ability to discuss a referendum on seceding from Britain in the political domain, although its consequences are as of yet unclear, cannot be described as anything other than a milestone in Northern Irish democracy. It seems that Northern Ireland is now developing a stronger identity of its own, rather than one tied rigidly to the religious dichotomy of the past, which could prove essential to its future stability. As a state which has only relatively recently been given the power to govern itself, the discussions surrounding the possible referendum will be the strongest test Northern Ireland’s recent peace will face, as well causing a moment of strong self-reflection for its people. As Adams puts it, the issue of referendum will boil down to “finally, democratically and peacefully resolving Ireland’s centuries-old British colonial legacy.”

Next week Ireland will host its first sex festival. What is a sex festival, you may rightly ask? ‘Bliss Festival’ is a one-day sex, sexuality and sexual health festival/conference, taking place in Dublin. The event is the first of its kind to take place in Ireland, or, as far as the organisers are aware, anywhere. According to chief organiser, Beth Wallace, Bliss is a new concept, for the first time combining sexual health, sexual freedom, and sexual pleasure workshops into one event,  “in a way that isn’t salacious, isn’t sleazy. It’s mature, and it’s grown a lot. It’s yes adults have sex, most adults have sexual relationships, so let’s talk about that in a grown-up way.”

Past discussions of sexuality in Ireland have traditionally been dominated by the Catholic Church, but an event such as this offers further proof that this is becoming less and less of an issue.  According to UCD Sociology Professor Tom Inglis, the festival does not mark a new watershed but is instead the continuation of a drawn-out process that has been occurring on and off for the last thirty years. “Sex as an end in itself, independent of love and romance and independent of religion, represents a huge transformation in Irish culture,” but this process has been occurring “gradually through the west in the twentieth century and reached into Ireland maybe a bit later and maybe a bit slower.”

Over the course of the twentieth century a transformation occurred in sex and its role in society. According to Inglis, three changes in particular altered the way in which sex was viewed by many cultures, particularly in the west. The first was the explosion of love and sexuality, and the sexualisation of romance. Inglis states that “being sexual, having sex became part and parcel of being romantic or being attracted to somebody and of developing a relationship.” Within these relationships sex began to be eroticised; pursued as an end in itself, “sex for pure enjoyment, as a sensual experience began to be recognised as legitimate.” And thirdly, the exploration of this sexual experience became separated from love and from romance, being seen not only as morally acceptable, but “something that can be pursued as an interest and a pleasure in much the same way perhaps as one might engage in sport or one might go to an art gallery or pursue music and literature.”

There was no defining moment when this great change of views on sex and sexuality occurred in Ireland, rather there was a gradual move towards less strict norms on sex and sexuality. Inglis points to the arrival of contraception in Ireland in the 1970s and the breaking of the Church’s monopoly over morality as important steps, but also warns that the role of the Internet could prove to be an even more significant and liberalising force in the long term.

Nevertheless, there is still a stereotypical view of Irish people viewing their sexual culture as slightly more repressed then the rest of the Western world, perhaps a remnant from the days when the Church’s sexual morality was imposed with a strict hand. Despite continuing to view ourselves as behind the times, over the past twenty years Irish sexual habits have begun to mirror those of our European neighbours. According to Inglis, “when it comes to age of first sex, number of sexual partners or frequency of sex, we may have been different up until the 1990s but there has been a slow approximation towards the European norm.” Although there are still some statistical differences in terms of the number of partners and other sexual practices, Ireland is not significantly dissimilar from the rest of the west. Wallace concurs, stating that “we think we’re far behind the social mores and cultural acceptability of other countries, but I’m actually not so sure that we are.”

It is this uncertainty regarding Irish sexual norms that Wallace hopes to explore throughout the festival, essentially offering curious parties a safe way to “dip their toes into the variety of different practices and therapies that can help make sex both safe and enjoyable.” Public displays of sexual practices often bring to mind the seedier representation of sex created by the adult entertainment industry, along with the accompanying pressures to define oneself through the prism of sexual prowess. However, Wallace believes that Bliss can help with this, fostering a more confident and informed approach to sex achieved through discourse, rather than a preoccupation with the physical act itself.

Amidst the cut-backs and funding crisis throughout third level education, the government’s proposal to upgrade certain Institutes of Technology (IT) to technological universities has been met with a lot of criticism and a unanimous outcry from the country’s seven university presidents. Suggested in the Hunt Report, this move could see a whole new type of university emerge with a different focus from traditional institutions.

Regions where the suggested reforms are being considered include the Southeast (Carlow and Tralee ITs), the Border Midland and Western (BMW) region (Athlone, Dundalk, Galway-Mayo, Letterkenny, and Sligo ITs), and Dublin (DIT and Tallaght IT). The idea has also received strong support from several senior Cabinet figures, including Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin, who represent Kilkenny and Wexford in the Dáil.

Athlone Institute of Technology President, Prof. Ciarán Ó Catháin, explains the ambitions of the project. “We are looking to create a differentiated institution, one that will be known for the excellence of its teaching and learning, and for its close collaboration with industry. Such a technological university will be much more than the sum of its parts, it will be a powerful agent of change in higher education for all the communities and stakeholders involved.”

However, the plan is still in its infancy according to Higher Education Authority spokesperson Malcolm Byrne. “First of all there’s no decision that has been made about giving university status to anybody yet. What’s provided for in the National Strategy for Higher Education, the Hunt Report, is for the concept of a technological university and it’s essentially a university along the lines as we know it but it would be more focused on technology and indeed industry.

“What has happened is that the HEA has drawn up the criteria for what that technological university should be. Those criteria will be published in February and it will then be up to either individual institutions or groups of institutions to come together and to apply to become a technological university,” he says. “It’s not just going to be a name change from X Institute of Technology to X Technological University, they will have to meet the very rigorous standards that will be set out and that will be checked by both an Irish panel and an international panel … if it’s determined that they reach the standards that are set out in the criteria then a recommendation will come from the panel that the combination would be able to be a technological university.”

The debate on what exactly these criteria will be is ongoing, and rumoured to now be involving various ministers. So far it has been accepted that the new universities would be expected to move away from the arts and humanities courses and focus on technology and the sciences. But what actually is the difference between a university of the type that currently exists, and one that is ‘technological’?

Gerard Casey, UCD Professor of Philosophy, is sceptical of what he says is politically- fuelled “creeping universityitus” and claims there has always been a fundamental gap between the two kinds of institutions. He says that one of the traditional variations has always been in the way a student is trained to think. “The main difference, let’s say in relation to something like engineering, because they both do that, was that the ITs, whether they’re designed to do this or not, were producing people who were employment-fit almost immediately. That is to say they fitted into the existing employment structure, they went out into the job market with the skills they needed for that job market. The difference [with] a university education, however, in engineering is that you’re training people to devise the solutions to problems that don’t yet exist.”

The proposed promotion then seems at variance with a view President Michael Higgins echoed last week when speaking about the “intellectual crisis” he believes Ireland is facing. He spoke about the special role of the university; “And were universities not special places, the citizens of the future may ask, for the generation of alternatives in science, culture and philosophy? The universities have a great challenge in the questions that are posed now, questions that are beyond ones of a narrow utility.”

However Professor Joe Carthy, principle of the UCD College of Science, does not agree that technological university can’t make a contribution to thought and development. “I think there’s a good tradition of technical universities in other countries, in Germany and in the United States, the best known being Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and no one would dispute its contribution to global education so I wouldn’t be too concerned. I think university status would mean that the university academics would have the freedom to do the kind of research that they need to do. I think, and one assumes, that they would be able for excellence in their areas.”

Assurances by Byrne that “the standards that would be expected in academic terms would be the same as any other university” lend weight to this appraisal.

Outside of the debate over educational approach, the way upgraded existing ITs to university status would benefit rural areas is also something that has been highlighted. Irish universities are currently very urban-centric, and there has long been a desire by some to alter this. It is hoped that new university status will promote and develop rural regions, not only by keeping students in the area, but also through the work that they hope to carry out.

“How a BMW Technology University will best serve the needs of this region is at the heart of our discussions,” according to Dundalk Institute of Technology President, Denis Cummins. “Research and innovation that supports indigenous and multinational industry will be central to its operation, which will be a catalyst for job creation. This will build on our substantial track record of supporting enterprise.”

Yet research is another topic that causes controversy. Byrne says that “One of the requirements [to becoming a university] is in the area of research and there is that issue between research and learning, so those criteria are going to have to be set out. I’m not going to pre-empt what the criteria are because they still need publication, but obviously research would be one of them. Clearly anyone who wishes to apply for designation as a technological university would have to reach or exceed the criteria that [is] set out.”

If the extra funding required to research and publish is considered, Casey believes that these reforms don’t make sense right now. He points out the much larger teaching involvement in ITs means that they currently don’t have time to research, and questions whether the new dispensation would result in more staff being required to provide time to do both.“It’s not like waving your magic wand, like Cinderella’s fairy godmother turning the mice into horses, it doesn’t quite work like that. You have to think it through. It’s a change in emphasis, it’s a change in what you do. A significant change. It’s not just a name, it’s a different reality.”

He passionately outlines the real crux of the issue as he sees it. “Has anybody thought this through? We’re being systematically cut in here, right now we literally have an embargo on tea and biscuits … soon they’ll have us out cleaning the floor. The universities in Ireland are plummeting down the rankings for whatever they’re worth, which is not much as far as I’m concerned. The bottom is falling out of the market. There’s an embargo here on buying books for the library. We cannot buy books for our library. This is in a research institution. It’s pathetic.”

Carthy, while supportive of the overall idea, echoes this sentiment. “There’s almost an implicit thing that it’s not going to cost anything, and it’s difficult to believe that that could be the situation … Some people kind of think it’s almost like you’re just changing the name plates, like the current institutes become universities and there’s no cost change. I suspect that’s not the case.” He continued by saying that there was a certain snobbishness associated with gaining university status and that the plan could affect CAO choices, even if no structural or budgetary changes were introduced. University status, even as just a name, can affect an institution’s ability to attract top students.

It is likely that real reform will require investment in existing ITs and the question is, do we need to spend to aid recovery? In a joint press release by the Presidents of DIT, IT Tallaght and IT Blanchardstown it is suggested that perhaps these new institutions would respond to what Ireland is currently lacking, which could in turn aid the economy. “In the context of Ireland’s national recovery plan, we will work towards building a new and exciting civic and technological institution, providing a world-class experience for our students, and developing graduates who will respond to the needs of society.”

However the issue of cost will not simply disappear. The exact criteria for the upgrades will be revealed in February, when we can expect the funding debate to reach a climax. Technological universities exist successfully worldwide, and lend to the production of a more diverse and skilled workforce. The benefit that would be brought to rural areas is also undeniable, but it is a sad fact that in Ireland education cannot function or compete internationally without substantial money coming in. Without funding these new technological universities could not get off the ground and into the rankings. Without substantial funding and genuine re-organisation, a superficial change in label will do little to paper over the cracks emerging across the Irish higher education system.

In recent years, Ireland has made a sharp turn towards multiculturalism. For a nation that has been perceived as unanimously white, both by foreign observers and its own indigenous population, Ireland has become more diverse at a rapid rate , with an increasingly large immigrant population.

Institutionally at least, Ireland is probably one of the most liberal and welcoming nations in the western world, and the increase in immigration to this country can be put down to its lenient immigration laws (in tandem with a formerly burgeoning economy). Professor Bryan Fanning of UCD’s School of Applied Social Sciences points out that “we don’t have far-right parties, we don’t have anti-immigrant political movements and that kind of thing. In a sense, basically, our politics is such that racial tension doesn’t find expression.” However, according to Prof. Fanning’s research, the problem of racism in Ireland is one of a series of isolated incidents, including people “who were terrified out of their houses, spat on and beaten up. One black African bus driver described how he was urinated on from above by passengers in a very racially-motivated incident.” UCD Students’ Union Science Programme Officer, Chris Wong, regularly hears of racial hate crimes from his mother, who is heavily involved in the Chinese-Irish community. “Eighteen friends of hers have been robbed in the past three months. She tried to get the Gardaí to help her in setting up a prevention scheme and they were very unreceptive.”

Despite such incidents of hostility between white Irish people and citizens or settlers of other races, the issue of racism in an increasingly multicultural nation is not prevalent in the public consciousness. Indeed, the Irish people took away the birthright of the children of non-nationals born in Ireland to Irish citizenship in a 2004 referendum, with 79.17% voting to amend the constitution as such. It is clear that, for now, Ireland wants to retain its self-image as a white, Catholic people, and is resistant to embracing the new, if unexpected realities of multiculturalism. The closure of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism in 2008 due to government cutbacks only reinforces this tenet.

Martin Collins, Assistant Director of travellers’ rights organisation, Pavee Point, believes that there have been “various attempts to polarise the two communities – the traveller community and the new, immigrant communities – and people have actually said to me, ‘we should be looking after travellers; they are our own people; they are citizens of Ireland, and we shouldn’t be looking after these new communities.’ … Suddenly, we have people coming out of the woodwork, suggesting we should look after our own first.” Collins goes on to state that the traveller community has been living on the island of Ireland for 1,200 years. It seems the recent acceptance of his community by the settled people is perceived as an attempt at uniting white Irish against ethnic minorities. However, a 2010 report by Micheál Mac Gréil, entitled ‘The Emancipation of the Travelling People’ illustrated that travellers were still “one of the most despised and excluded groups in this society.”

The deduction has to be made that the settled, white, Catholic Irish person still conceptualises the Irish people as being identical to them racially, religiously and socio-economically. It’s an abstract notion, but one that finds some outlet in daily life, and Wong has had to confront it from time to time. “A lot of people don’t believe that I am an Irish citizen; I have to prove it to them. A lot of time I don’t, because I’m already so pissed off with them.” At the same time however, Prof. Fanning believes that “people who are Irish citizens tend to be of the same ethnic group, and perhaps there is a degree of what I call ‘ethnic nepotism’ towards themselves over others, and that tends to be something we find in other societies.”

This failure of the white Irish and immigrant communities, combined with the relative apathy of the state and its practices, points to a continued status of anonymity for immigrants. The concerns of immigrants will not be properly taken care of until they have some kind of stake in our political system, and that starts with enfranchisement. It is an endemic problem facing immigrants that Prof. Fanning labels ‘benign neglect’. “Political parties are indifferent to immigrants, they aren’t representing them. There’s a vacuum here, and it’s one of leadership. I think the politicians who say nothing on such issues [such as the Darren Scully controversy] are also, basically, not representing their constituents.”

The comments and actions of former mayor of Naas, Darren Scully, towards his black African constituents late last year would surely paint some Irish politicians as indifferent to immigrant rights. However, what is more damning of Irish politicians is the degree of civility with which the rhetoric and public debate on the issues of racism and immigration are characterised – a nation contented with the current standing of the population’s newest members, unwilling to recognise the antagonism many of them face on a daily basis.

For a nation with widespread emigration so engrained in its shared cultural history, one would believe that Ireland would be welcoming of newcomers, intent on righting the wrongs their ancestors faced in the New World. And while, legally at least, we are hospitable of those who seek residence here, social and political structures refuse to make ethnic minorities, and especially immigrants, feel anything more than hostility or indifference. UCD President Hugh Brady has taken steps to amend this in aiming for international students to make-up twenty-five per cent of UCD’s student body by 2015, which, as Chris Wong, the only non-white UCDSU representative correctly states, is “highlighting the fact that we need a more diverse student body more than anything.” With that said, it is a proactive step. Is it however, a move born out of a dire need to enhance UCD’s reputation? Almost certainly, nonetheless, it is a racially inclusive move, and a similar one should be taken at a national level, according to Professor Fanning. “The government should become more proactive in naturalising people who have been here a very long time, because their children are growing up here and so on. Governments have a duty to be proactive in their leadership in these issues.”

In a time when political apathy and distrust is widespread, one proposed method of increasing political participation is to increase individual citizens’ involvement via citizens’ assemblies. Traditionally met with scepticism by Irish politicians, a group of Irish professors created the initiative We the Citizens and successfully applied for substantial funding from Atlantic Philanthropy. Their experiment set out to see if increased citizen participation through assemblies could increase trust in the political system and help citizens shape Ireland for the better.

The citizens’ assembly that We the Citizens proposed followed a system in use in several other countries where, according to Professor David Farrell, Head of UCD’s School of Politics, “You engage with citizens directly in a bottom-up process where citizens have a direct involvement in helping to take decisions that are important.” Citizens would be called into such assemblies to decide on a particular issue in a particular time frame. Examples cited by Professor Farrell included allocation of a portion of local government budgets in Brazilian communities, and an electoral reform proposal in British Columbia.

Steven Cullen, a student participant, commuted from Raheny to Tallaght as a volunteer assemblyman in order to take part in one pilot. “I was required to take part in round table discussions based largely around trying to come up with practical solutions to Ireland’s political and economic problems, and on how we can improve the system under which we’re governed.” They discussed both broad and specific topics and as the discussion proceeded, “a moderator would record all of the points brought up, and we were also all given markers to use on the table’s paper tablecloth so we could write down any points or ideas that we had which didn’t come up in the discussion – moderators photographed all of these tablecloths at the end of the event.”

Cullen continued, “I was grouped with roughly eight or nine other participants plus the moderator. The other participants represented quite a variety of age groups; I was certainly the youngest in my group, while the others ranged from people in their thirties, to the middle-aged, to retired people.”  Of the moderators he said they “made sure that no one person dominated discussion, brought people into the discussion if they hadn’t spoken in a while, and also made sure that we never wandered too far from the core topics we were supposed to be talking about.” Of the discussion he felt that “the dialogue at the assembly was generally positive. Most people were articulating reasonable, realisable and constructive points.”

Professor Farrell explained there are several factors key to ensuring a citizens’ assembly is a constructive and useful process. The first of these is the selection of participants, that they are “randomly selected, because the alternative of electing them, or of letting the citizens represent sectors, or interests, either of those alternatives, introduces the dangers of entryism, and the whole process being hijacked. Random selection cuts that out immediately.” By using such random selection they prevent existing organisations from exploiting the citizens’ assembly for their own ends.

His second point was regarding the use of expert witnesses. “Clearly if you’re randomly selecting, you’re going to have huge variations in skill set of those citizens, particularly on whatever issue it is you’re talking about. And that’s exactly what we had in We the Citizens – which created an important role for expert witnesses.” These experts would be “engaging with citizens so that they become informed of the nuances and difficulties and complexities of particular issues, and then take informed decisions.” He spoke specifically of an example in British Columbia where 160 assembly members worked on weekends for a year on possible electoral reform and how “by the end of that process those 160 citizen assembly members were experts on electoral systems, more expert then most political scientists would be.”

His final point is that assemblies must be time delimited, and formed with a specific purpose. “Once it’s done its job it ceases to exist. We’re not talking about a third house of the Oireachtas, we’re talking about a one-off process and it’s set up for a purpose and made very clear from the get-go what that purpose is, so that the members have no false illusions about what their job is.” None of these assemblies exist in perpetuity, which ensures a high level of motivation on the part of participants.

We the Citizens has performed its experiment, and has now dissolved since submitting its report to the government, but the question of greater citizen involvement remains open. The group behind the initiative are continuing to lobby for the use of citizens’ assemblies, particularly for the constitutional convention the government has committed itself to. Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Minister Brendan Howlin were both present to receive the We the Citizens report. Professor Farrell felt that it was too soon to say what the government’s response would be to their proposals, but he did feel, at least, that “both ministers gave a very positive vibe.”

This New Year has been a time of firsts. It was the first time I missed a flight, from London back to Canada. This is definitely something I never want to repeat for the sake of both my sanity and my wallet. International flights are not cheap, and spending twenty-four hours in an airport is not anyone’s idea of fun. In fact it’s pretty awful. Without a few hours of BBC’s Sherlock, and a season of Breaking Bad, I don’t think I would have made it.

Still, make it back to Canada I did, albeit a bit later than intended, just in time for another few firsts. My first Canadian winter, followed by my first night in the hospital, and my first set of stitches. These firsts are all related. Originally I was quite enjoying the Canadian winter. I’ve been lucky in that it has been rather mild here, practically still summer up until the new year, and even now that winter has arrived temperatures have been nowhere as low as they have been in the past. It has been snowing, which I love because we get far too little snow in Ireland, but it has not been at all heavy by Canadian standards. As a result, I haven’t had to acquire much in the line of winter wear. My incredible landlord bought me a winter coat for my birthday, and apart from that I had been told to buy a “tuque” and winter boots to be fully protected against the cold.

If you’re confused by the word tuque, do not be alarmed. I had no idea what it was when someone first mentioned it to me. In fact, after asking a few Canadians and even looking it up online I am still fairly confused. Everyone who mentioned this mythical piece of winter attire had either different views on what constituted a tuque, or had no idea whatsoever. The only real headway I’ve made is that it seems to be a term for a hat. Why not just use the word hat then? Crazy Canadians. In the end I just got a hat. I also decided against the winter boots.

That was a mistake, and possibly why I ended up in hospital.

Canadians are so efficient at clearing the snow away that it’s easy to just take for granted that a path will be completely free of snow, or indeed ice, wherever you go. After two weeks of this I got a bit relaxed, and was fully unprepared for that almost invisible patch of ice. Being without winter boots and thus without much grip on my shoes, I fell pretty spectacularly. I managed to break my fall on a nearby wall but only with my head, hence my first hospital trip and five stitches in my forehead.

Still, despite those minor disasters, things have been great. I may have an everlasting hatred for Gatwick Airport, but the first semester in Canada ended in fine style. I had a great Christmas with my family and friends, and I’m thrilled to be back. The new college term has been eventful, highlighting in particular an aspect of Canadian society that we really don’t seem to exploit in Ireland: themed parties.

Consider this; in the past week I have been to a Lego party (where you play with lots of Lego), a Nintendo party (fancy dress with a Nintendo theme), and then there’s a Blanket Fort party on Friday (we’re turning a friend’s apartment into a giant blanket fort – how spectacular is that?). Last semester there were many others, from the run-of-the-mill Toga parties to the more risqué ABC parties (Anything But Clothes). Even better is the fact that everyone takes the themes pretty seriously. There’s nothing worse than people showing up in normal clothes at a fancy dress party. It’s just not on.

I find these themed parties spice up going out in a great way. The variety is amazing, and you not only have the fun of preparing for these parties yourself, but also of arriving and getting to see what everyone else did too. These should happen more at home.

Stitches and themed parties aside, life in Canada continues as normal. My landlord consistently buys me lunch, despite my attempts to evade his charity, and in return asks only that I teach him how to use the Internet and his new Blackberry Tablet. He is eighty, and has never used a computer before. It’s been an experience. The only worry I have is that my facicious use of the word ‘eh’ (pronounced ‘ay?’), seems to be becoming less and less of a joke. Canada is contagious. You’ve been warned.

Ireland is facing a potentially pivotal moment in its relatively short history, as it seeks to balance national interests with attempts to find its place in a European Union struck by crisis. Years of incredible Irish growth and development, no doubt boosted by European integration, have come to a grinding halt, to be replaced by austerity measures and re-emerging questions concerning the legitimacy of outside interference.

Paul Gillespie, former Irish Times European correspondent and UCD lecturer in Politics, says that Ireland’s approach to the European Union, under its various guises, has always been governed by both Anglo-Irish relations, as well as “a European dimension to Irish nationalism.” Gillespie believes that Sean Lemass’s opening of negotiations for European membership in 1962 was motivated both by a desire to avoid becoming isolated from Britain, who had opened negotiations in 1961, and also from a natural tendency to look to Europe as a “counter-balance to Britain.”

Political motivations behind Ireland’s involvement in European affairs cannot be ignored yet, then as now, economic concerns were also a key driver towards integration. Daniel Thomas, Director of UCD’s Dublin European Institute, outlines Ireland’s reliance on trade with Britain as the overriding concern for the Irish government. “[Ireland] had political independence decades earlier but there was still economic dependence on Great Britain, and joining the economic community was a way to diversify Ireland’s markets,” he says, while also pointing out that, if Ireland had not followed Britain’s lead in joining this European market, Anglo-Irish trade could have suffered significantly. “In terms of the economic welfare of Irish citizens, there is no question that being a member of the EU was a huge consideration for all these multinational corporations that have been investing in Ireland for the last twenty-five years.”

The primacy of economic reasons and Anglo-Irish relations is echoed by Anthony Coughlan, former lecturer at Trinity and director of the National Platform for EU Research and Information Centre, a non-governmental, openly ‘Eurosceptical’ organization. However he, in contrast, believes that the levels of integration today go far beyond what Lemass could have envisaged, and are at the root of Ireland’s current financial woes. “Lemass was in a difficult position as we were heavily dependent on Britain at the time,” he says. “But I am fairly certain that he didn’t envisage that the EU would develop the way that it has, into running most of our policies and now proposing the exchange of intimate details concerning national budgets in the context of a monetary union.”

Predicted by Coughlan and many others who have taken a consistently Eurosceptic stance, the current Eurozone crisis has been used to suggest that membership of the European Union is not in Ireland’s best interest. Coughlan argues that the loss of control over monetary matters is the most evident manner in which European policy has hurt Ireland.

“Our extremely competitive independent Irish currency prior to joining the Eurozone gave us the Celtic Tiger. The loss of control over our interest rate made our Celtic Tiger boom and turned it into a bubble which burst and caused the consequent slump,” he says. “The European Central Bank forbade us to let any Irish bank go bust and therefore required us to pass on the bad debts to the Irish taxpayers. This was the result of European Central Bank policy and an independent Irish government would not have gone down that road.”

For Thomas, national governments are just as culpable for the current crisis as any supranational interference. “For years, national governments took credit when things went right and blamed Brussels when things went wrong. That pattern is now coming back to haunt us because people don’t see the way in which Europe is useful,” he says, pointing to the manner in which Irish government officials often misrepresented and, arguably, mismanaged Ireland’s economy during the boom years.

Gillespie also highlights national government policy as a contributing factor to Ireland’s precarious position, particularly the effect neglecting alliances with similarly sized EU states had on negotiations within the EU. “The network of alliances that are necessary for a small state to be heard in a European setting fell away during 2001/2002, coinciding with the property boom really,” he says. “This is a big problem because [these alliances] ensure that, if you’re getting deeper integration, there is a balance between the institutions that suited the smaller states and the emerging system.” Regardless of who is to blame, the Eurozone project is teetering close to collapse. Negotiations concerning a fiscal pact continue but it remains unclear if the Euro can survive into the next year.

The prospect of a Eurozone collapse is welcomed by Coughlan, who views the loss of monetary controls Eurozone membership enforced, no matter its affects on the economy, as symptomatic of the manner in which membership of the EU conflicts with Irish democracy. He argues that with Irish law increasingly initiated at the EU level, an arena where “Irish people make up only a tiny handful,” the EU suffers from a democratic deficit that de-legitimises the structure.

“This is not democracy,” he says. “Democracy requires a demos, a people who can identify with the community and communicate with each other. The most obvious point is that there is no common language to communicate through [at a European level]. This creates the fundamental flaw of the European project in that there is no European demos and there therefore can be no European democracy.”

The issue of democracy is problematic and is certainly worth exploring, particularly at a time when Irish citizens are being asked to make substantial sacrifices. Thomas does admit that “there are certain ways in which European decision-making is far removed from democratic input and democratic expression.” Nevertheless, he does not believe that this pooling of sovereignty necessarily equates to a loss of sovereignty. Highlighting that the EU is democratic in many other regards, he argues that the EU also has the potential to be far more democratic, if member states and their citizens become better acquainted with the system.

“I think the most important thing is to make European citizens, including our citizens, better informed about the EU, because they often do not realise how voters have influence,” he says. “Irish citizens are represented directly through the European parliament, they are indirectly represented through the government of Ireland in the two most important institutions for EU decision-making, but the average Irish citizen, just like the average French or German or Spanish or Polish citizen, see the EU as a collection of Eurocrats [who are] overpaid, faceless and tell us the shape our cucumbers should be.”

Concurring, Gillespie argues that Ireland requires greater involvement at a European level than ever before and, in contrast to Coughlan, believes that common politics at a European level can help create a genuine European identity. “The relationship between Europeanisation and national identity is terribly important. If you look closely at Ireland, there is a tension between the sovereignists and those open to multiple identities. Part of the conflict we have over integration is between these two political cultures.”

As Ireland looks to establish its future EU position, Gillespie is keen to emphasise that this crisis cannot be combated without more “common politics at a European level. I think we’re in a major shift … we need more capacity at a European level because, arguably, bureaucratic structures have been created without political ones.” Although not suggesting that Europe become a federal construct, Gillespie feels the EU must “be made more politically accessible if you want to be a democrat. You really encourage democratic participation by enabling people to have a more common politics.”

Common politics are not a possibility according to Coughlan, who maintains that the EU can never truly be democratic and is a product of a bygone era. “Essentially, it should be seen as a Cold War creature and a result of the situation after World War Two, where the larger continental powers tried to recover prestige they lost by joining together to become a big noise in world politics that they could not be individually,” he says. “That’s all out of date and irrelevant now, and so is the European Union.” He continues, “There is a totally fallacious argument that, for people to matter in the world, they need to belong to a large state” which drives European integration and, in turn, leaves European states open to exploitation by their larger neighbours.

Thomas disagrees and instead argues that state size does matter. He believes that European states “recognise they are better off operating through a European structure than going it alone. Who listens to Luxembourg or Croatia or Ireland in global politics? They are listened to because they are key players within the EU.” This becomes even more important due to Ireland’s geographic location. “Participation in European integration has been very good for Ireland and it doesn’t have good viable alternatives,” Thomas says. “A small island in the Atlantic somewhere between Europe and the United States is not a place you want to be. It may be a place you want to go to on holiday but in terms of economic welfare and political influence, that’s not a place you want to be.” The consequence of this is that, even were the EU to collapse under its current guise, he argues that “it will be re-invented.”

Although sharing Thomas’s confidence of the EU’s ability to ride out the current crisis, Gillespie offers some words of warning. “If the euro fails, you’re in for a period of very toxic politics in Europe,” he muses. “I’m not saying that there will automatically be a return to 1930s type of politics but there will be large scale instability, which is dangerous for small states, including us. We’re better to stay with this and argue our case through it, but argue it more vocally and openly, and help to create a better political framework, within which this kind of common politics can emerge.”

It goes without saying that the legacy of British rule guarantees an Irish aversion to outsider interference. Nevertheless, the truth of the matter is that Ireland, by virtue of its small size, cannot cocoon itself from the outside world and its policies will always be shaped externally to some degree. Whether it must look to Britain or Europe, Irish policy choices will be constrained to a large extent by matters beyond national borders. As the EU approaches its next major crossroads in the form of a fiscal treaty, Britain is taking an increasingly sovereignist position and resisting deeper integration. Ireland must now decide whether it follows suit.